Taking out my 2 year old

[chas0218]

So we have this nice hunting shack all heated and everything anyone have any recommendations to keep a 2 year old occupied for a couple hours? My plan is to shoot the first doe that walks out so he can get into the experience. He loves watching deer on the camera and always ask to go. I have a tablet for him I'm going to bring and cram as many quieter toys as possible into my bag. 

Any recommendations are welcome. He has been able to sit for 2 hours at max then back to the house.

[Marion]

So we have this nice hunting shack all heated and everything anyone have any recommendations to keep a 2 year old occupied for a couple hours? My plan is to shoot the first doe that walks out so he can get into the experience. He loves watching deer on the camera and always ask to go. I have a tablet for him I'm going to bring and cram as many quieter toys as possible into my bag. 
Any recommendations are welcome. He has been able to sit for 2 hours at max then back to the house.

Adderal. Kidding of course. The soft quiet toys should work. Maybe a bottle if two year olds drink bottles still idk. Maybe a video and headphones for an ipad or similar tablet/phone preferably samsung phone because I am biased. Best of luck and hopefully you get the little guy hooked for life

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[Zuke]

Quiet snacks... my daughter loves a sucker or two and it usually buys me another 30 minutes or so.

[NFA-ADK]

Ear plugs for him at 2 a gun noise will be startling.  I would check the regulations on what you are doing, not so sure it is acceptable.  Good luck and be safe!

[turkeyfeathers]

Is a nice warm sleeping bag an option for him to crawl into and sit on chair. 

Have him be on watch for as long as attention holds out. 

Thermos of hot chocolate 

I can hear it now though. “ dad , I gotta pee “ 

have fun and be safe. Hang some orange on your blind. 

[Robhuntandfish]

yeah was thinking has he been around a gunshot ?  pretty loud in a hunting shack.  Got some earphones?  

[grampy]

Bless you for taking out a two year old!  Lots of questions and pointing at that age. Have fun!!!

[Swamp_bucks]

Thats awesome your taking him.  I do tbink kids need to have a certain amount of orange on.  And to occupy him maybe print out some pictures of wildlife so he can color them.  Thats what i did for my daughters till they got to be 6 or 7. They would see an animal and try to color it so it looked the same.  

Hoping an example i found shows up 

[Jeremy K]

My son is almost 2 ,I couldn't keep him calm for 5 minutes, let alone enough time to hunt ! He would be investigating every square inch of the inside of the shack as well as the heater. 

[Marion]

Ear plugs for him at 2 a gun noise will be startling.  I would check the regulations on what you are doing, not so sure it is acceptable.  Good luck and be safe!

I would go a step further and throw muffs on top of the plugs. Never can be too careful with hearing

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[stoneam2006]

My son is almost 2 ,I couldn't keep him calm for 5 minutes, let alone enough time to hunt ! He would be investigating every square inch of the inside of the shack as well as the heater. 

Shoot my kid is 8 and I can't get him to sit for 5 min lol....

Good luck tomorrow as other said ear plugs and muffs for sure. Maybe a extra battery pack for the tablet and you tube if you can hotspot phone or tablet has data plan

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[TACC]

Firstly, I say more power to ya!
Secondly, I'm looking to take my 2.5 year old grandson out for a while as well, and I think that it is great you starting them so early as I did 50 years ago, without the ear pro though.

The ear pro is a must, even if you are not shooting let him get used to wearing it so when the time come he has got it under control.

Has he spent any time with you at the range so he is at least some what familiar with a rifle/shotgun blast ? In my opinion this must be done first so he is not scared when you do shoot.

I think your plans of keeping him busy are admirable, but at 2 years old a 5x5 box gets pretty boring. I definitely commend you for your attitude of the time spent with him is the priority, if he only lasts a couple of hours then wants to go bouncing around the woods with you, I have that ability, or he wants to go home oh well. The deer will be there another day and we spend some more time out there..

We will literally have 4 generations hunting this year. It is a great feeling

Sent from my SM-G900T3 using Tapatalk

[Zag]

I give you credit. I tried that yrs ago with my son maybe age 3 or 4 and we didn't make it an hr and he was done.

[Moho81]

Coloring books, tablet/phone with headphones snacks and don’t have high expectations of being out long. It’s all about memories anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TreeGuy]

Snacks. And more snacks. And snacks too.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[turkeyfeathers]

How'd it go ?

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 11/17/2017 at 2:52 PM, NFA-ADK said:

Ear plugs for him at 2 a gun noise will be startling.  I would check the regulations on what you are doing, not so sure it is acceptable.  Good luck and be safe!

Its perfectly legal.

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 11/17/2017 at 3:02 PM, Robhuntandfish said:

yeah was thinking has he been around a gunshot ?  pretty loud in a hunting shack.  Got some earphones?  

Stick the barrel out the window, its not that loud. Hearing protection is a must.

[stubborn1VT]

I shot my deer rifle out of a 4x6 enclosed blind once.  I thought I might never be able to hear again.  The sound is way worse for me than the felt recoil.  

Good luck with the young'n.  Any time you can spend outdoors together is priceless and worth the effort.  Best of luck!

[chas0218]

On 11/17/2017 at 3:02 PM, Robhuntandfish said:

yeah was thinking has he been around a gunshot ?  pretty loud in a hunting shack.  Got some earphones?  

Yeah we both have ear muffs that I use and always have the barrel out of the shack.

He has sighted my guns in with me he even got to shoot the pellet gun even though he didn't hit the target. I'm not looking for him to shoot the deer I just want him to get out there with me. He was really good during bow season except he was terrible at moving slow. haha we got picked out by some doe about 80 yards out but he got to watch them for a solid 5 minutes. Before a 4 point chased them off. He had the whisper part down just not moving slow.

The "shooting shack" as we call it is an 8'x8' enclosure elevated about 20' off the ground. We have shot a lot of deer out of it and generally the deer don't mind it when you're up there moving around too much.

[chas0218]

22 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

How'd it go ?

Haven't made it out yet we are waiting for this week when we go home to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Looking like it might not happen with everyone's schedule but I'm trying! He will make it out with me at some point but with all the the festivities on both sides I'll be lucky to get out and whack anything up there.

[Fletch]

I don’t think I got mine out during season until maybe he was 6 or so. 2 bless you man lol. Snacks are a must lol.
He’s small so make sure he can see out the windows and help you search.

My buddies daughter shot her first a couple weeks ago. She is 7! He’s in GA though. She’s a trip she went gator hunting with us too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chas0218]

1 hour ago, Fletch said:

I don’t think I got mine out during season until maybe he was 6 or so. 2 bless you man lol. Snacks are a must lol.
He’s small so make sure he can see out the windows and help you search.

My buddies daughter shot her first a couple weeks ago. She is 7! He’s in GA though. She’s a trip she went gator hunting with us too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah he loves it. All he talks about is deer. Every night we sit and watch a hunting show together he and my 8 month old are glued to it. I gave my 2 year old my old grunt tube and he walks around the house with a made up gun grunting and going "bang! Me shot deer!" it's really a sight to see.